What's the optimal width rim for a low HP car?

[DSC]

I was just wondering, what's the optimal width rim for a low HP s14? Low meaning less than 250whp. Would this same width hurt performance on an s14 with 100hp less? I know too wide could hurt performance, so whats that perfect width? What makes it perfect? What are the advantages/disadvantages to running larger wheels in the back? How much larger should they be, .5, 1, 1.5? All you wheel experts help me out!

Edit:  Add...for a daily driver/auto-x/track car not drag.

[White240sx]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (DSC @ Mar. 17 2002,10:37)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I know too wide could hurt performance, so whats that perfect width? What makes it perfect? What are the advantages/disadvantages to running larger wheels in the back? How much larger should they be, .5, 1, 1.5? All you wheel experts help me out!</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
What kind of performance? Wide tires are about more than just grip during acceleration, cornering grip has a lot to do with it too. There isn't really a standard; people just get the width that they want.

Staggered widths usually will induce a tendency to understeer which is by far safer in a situation where you are traveling around a turn at high speed. For daily use it is usually more practical to run the same size tires all around which gives you the opportunity to rotate tires and save money. But in the end it all comes down to what your preferences and driving style are.

For an S14 you have quite a bit of fender capacity (9" up front and up to 11" in back) so you have a lot of room to play with tread footprints and handling characteristics.

[tnord]

one disadvantage to having wide wheels is the added weight of both the wheel and tire, of course this hinders acceleration, handling, and braking.......but on the other hand, the added contact patch allows you to put more rubber on the ground, allowing a harder launch, more cornering force, and shorter braking.....but then once again, wider tires create more friction, which hinders acceleration, also the further away from the hub you place the weight of the wheel, the less the suspension can control it, it's pretty tough to determine an optimal wheel size without extensive testing

if i had to pick a wheel size, i would go with a 7.5'' wheel and a 225 width tire, i say this because this is what i will be running in the next couple of weeks

[ginta99]

9" in the front and 11" in the back!?! &nbsp;I had no clue that s14's had that much space. &nbsp;I was wondering if anyone knew the maximum widths for s13's? &nbsp;Autobacs has a wheel tire package for the 5zigen typhoons that I wanted to get later on, and they are 17x8 in front and 17x9 in the back with I think a ~+33 offset. &nbsp;Would these fit? &nbsp;And would I want this setup with a SR20DET with slight (intake exhaust maybe up the boost to 8-10psi) mods, or is it too wide?

[White240sx]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (ginta99 @ Mar. 17 2002,11:28)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">1. 9" in the front and 11" in the back!?! I had no clue that s14's had that much space.

2. I was wondering if anyone knew the maximum widths for s13's? Autobacs has a wheel tire package for the 5zigen typhoons that I wanted to get later on, and they are 17x8 in front and 17x9 in the back with I think a ~+33 offset. Would these fit? And would I want this setup with a SR20DET with slight (intake exhaust maybe up the boost to 8-10psi) mods, or is it too wide?</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
1. That’s the widest I’ve seen on an S14 with no fender modifications. I believe there is a guy who got some HRE wheels made that are 10" up front and 12" out back IIRC. He is also going to have his fenders flared.

2. I'm aware of one S13 with 8" front and 9" rears, and it had Teins (or something comparable). So assuming the offsets are perfect that’s probably as wide as you can go with out modifications.

And don't worry about going too wide; to narrow is where the problem is.

[HippoSleek]

Travis is right again &nbsp;<img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':cool:'>

Honestly, I think that set up matters a lot. &nbsp;If you have 250+, staggered tires start to become helpful as power on oversteer becomes an issue for cornering. &nbsp;Sub 225 whp, there is no reason for a stagger. &nbsp;It costs too much to keep tires on, requires expensive, overly wide tires, and will actually reduce the ability of the car to oversteer so much that you will hurt your handling.

I also agree that, at that hp level, there is any reason for more than a 225 (which will fit perfectly on a 7.5" wheel).

As for being too narrow - I run stock size 205's on the factory s14 SE alloys (old skool RE71's). &nbsp;I can tell you that I ran out of suspension b/f tire (let's just say the tires were having a problem b/c the suspension was bottoming) and I drove pretty hard. &nbsp;Good tires are better than wide tires.